Cruisers Forum
Main Forum => General Discussion => Topic started by: RKS on July 11, 2014, 03:23:17 pm
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A question for those with PC's on Sprinter chassis, I have been reading on other forums about difficulties in some areas of the county where owners have not been able to easily find diesel fuel that meets Mercedes specification of B5 or lower.
Yesterday I was in the Sprinter dealership in Bangor Maine and spoke to the service manger about the problem, he said he had just seen a service bulletin advising "if unable to find the right mixture, rather that shutting down and sitting on the side of the road, to purchase enough biodiesel to get to the next available station. then fill up with compatible fuel as soon as possible." Probably not necessary to have an automotive degree to reach a similar conclusion.
He also indicated he had heard that in an emergency using Sea Foam motor treatment "might help". We currently use it by the bucket full to counter act the damage ethanol causes on engines such as chain saws, outboards and any engine going into storage.
Would like to hear what experience or information others might have on this issue.
Bob
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Bio Diesel?? I don't think so.
Diesels require ULSD - Ultra Low Sulpher.
Available everywhere in USA but not in Mexico except near the border.
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That may have been the case, but it appears as of July 1st Minnesota mandates at least 10% biodiesel and may be going higher in 2015.
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However, Sprinter does not require bio-diesel.
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Here are two links that appear to mandate the use of Biodiesel in Minnesota. Does not appear to be optional. Perhaps someone from Minnesota can fill us in.
http://www.mda.state.mn.us/renewable/biodiesel.aspx
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=239.77
Barry
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Sorry if I didn't make my initial post clearer, I realize that Ultra low sulfur diesel is the fuel of choice for the Sprinter and not biodiesel, MB specifies that if biodiesel is used, however, that the maximum mixture is 5% or B5, any higher they claim will cause severe engine damage. In some areas of the country, as I stated previously owners have not been able to locate ULSD or even B5 but fuel pumps labeled "Biodiesel B5-B20". It seems more common in the Midwest or areas where there is a strong soybean lobby, although I did read of someone having trouble on I-95 in Virginia.
If you Google Sprinter dealerships in Minnesota you will see that they are still selling them, so I agree that it would be very interesting to hear from someone in that area.
For the record Minn. plans on switching back to B5 for the colder months of the year, have also read that in 2015 they are upping the mixture even higher.
Bob
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2015 summer Minnesota is going to B20 I believe.
ULSD & biodiesel are 2 different animals. Pure bio is automatically ULSD because there is no sulphur there to begin with, it's soy or animal fat based. ULSD is refined oil that's been run through a process that pull most of the sulphur from the crude, out of the mix.
ULSD is mixed with bio, or the other way around to get the 5 on up % mix.
Mercedes is going to have to change their recommendations because the competition's diesels, aka Ford Transit, Ram Promaster are allowing the 20% mix albeit with more often oil changes if the 20 is used.
Part of the issue with the bio is that the newer diesels with the DPF filters have to do a regen, (cleaning of the DPF), which causes an extreme rich condition in the fuel stream more often with the bio than straight ULSD. The rich condition causes a washing down of the cylinder walls throwing excess fuel into the oil, thus diluting it to excess. The cure is to change the oil more often and try to use the least amount of bio over the long term